Monday, March 31, 2014

If It Was Under Your Nose, Would You See It?

Two sides of the same coin
department – Have you ever presented an opportunity to someone, whether work,
business or social, then have that person walk away from it or not value what
was presented to them?How many times
have you been offered something, then in hindsight were able to recognize the
missed opportunity?This thinking led me
to wonder about the ways we perceive the things as they are presented.

My thoughts on this began to
develop related to an event this past week.As a member of Toastmasters, we sign up for speeches or roles for every
meeting. The roles range from evaluator
to running the meeting that counts towards a leadership certification.When we want to give a speech, we need to sign
up in an open time slot.At the
mid-March meeting, we were told that the speaker slots for the next two events
were full.I was happy to have
previously signed up in a slot for the first session in April.A few days ago, I was curious about who was
speaking at this past Friday’s meeting and saw only 2 speakers.I sent an email out to see if I could fill
the third speaker’s slot.When the
answer came back a “yes,” I was excited!At the meeting, it was pointed out that I took the initiative to check
the website and created the opportunity to speak.While I was uncomfortable being signaled out,
the point was that I went to the website, saw the opening, and did not wait for
someone to come to me.

Too often, we hear from people
that missed an opening say, “If I had known…” or “How did they get that…” or
“They must have had no one else…”Thomas
A. Edison said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in
overalls and looks like work.”In a
world of instant gratification and a sense of entitlement, how often do we look
for a quick success, or instant riches?While we can read stories that tell wonderful tales of unexpected,
instant gains, the reality is that most successful people (in any type of
endeavor), have had to work hard to get what they strive for.Sometimes, the years of effort come together
in a single moment, validating the quote by Seneca, “Luck is what happens when
preparation meets opportunity.”In other
words, the people that have “stepped in it” have spent a good time preparing
for that moment.

In my case, I would like to
become a professional speaker.Like any
other skill that we hone, we have to be willing and able to practice so that we
can improve. If I really want to develop
better speaking skills, I certainly have to be willing and able to speak at any
time the chance presents itself.In last
week’s case, I had a speech in the ready mode and was looking for the
opportunity to present it.It was, I
guess, luck that made me intentionally go to the website and double check if
there were enough speakers :)